A Tale of Two Sidles
by pixienightingale
Summary: It wasn't hard to pinpoint with things went wrong with Erzebet Sidle - or Sara for that matter - but how in the world did he not know they were related? And can everything get turned around before Erze marries an abusive jerk?
1. Paradise Island

Greg Sanders, a young man who had been in Las Vegas for two years as a lab technician in the crime lab, shook a bit as he set up the video camera. He and his best, no ONLY female friend, Erzsébet, were in Hawaii, celebrating her graduation.

He also regretted the deal they had made on the way over, on the plane; their had been a discussion about their relationship, and Greg had frozen and said that he thought they should just be friends. Especially since she was heading off the Atlanta, and they would probably communicate only by e-mail and post-mailed videos.

Greg hadn't seen the sadness in Erzsébet's eyes, or the way her entire body changed after they'd made the deal. He had simply looked out the window and not thought about it since…. Until yesterday, that is. Yesterday they were walking along one of the roads downtown and they went by a jewelry stand. When Erzsébet had walked off, Greg saw two things: a locket and a black pearl ring. He wasn't stupid, he knew black pearls were rare, but to him, so was Erzsébet.

He had bought both, and planned to give her the locket when they got off the plane in LA; she was going to spend a week with her grandparents before heading to Atlanta. The ring was the reason he was setting up a camera. Clearing his throat, he made sure Erzsébet was out of the room, and quickly went inside and locked both her door and his. The wonders of adjoining rooms would allow him to tape interrupted.

After making sure the camera was on, had tape in it, and was indeed recording, Greg sat on the edge of the balcony. "Yesterday," he began, "I bought you a couple of things. One you'll get when the plane touched down at LAX. The other… it requires extra words to give. Why? Because we both decided, on the plane trip over to this beautiful place, never to be more than friends." He sighed before continuing. "I can't just be your friend, Erzsé. I've watched you for the past eight years, and have seen you change. You have grown from a girl with mosquito bites to a women who made Hawaiian men take notice."

He jumped as there was a knock on his door; Erzsébet had gone downstairs to call a cab, and had her stuff in his room so she could check out of the hotel early. "GREG!" she called from outside his door, "Are you done yet? The cab company called and they're on their way!"

"Almost!" Greg smiled and looked back at the camera lens. "That's you, but… you probably know that already." He cleared his throat a little, and scratched his head for a moment. "Where was I? Oh yeah – you made them take notice, and even then I had begun to regret our deal. So, I got this for you…"

He reached into his pocket then, and Greg actually had to look to find what he was trying to set free from the confines of his shorts. He pulled a blue box out and looked back at the camera as he opened the box; he has picked the black pearl ring because it was rare, like he thought Erzsébet was. "I want to marry you, Erzsébet Kaia Sidle," he said into the camera, "and I think I've known I love you for about the same amount of time I've known you." He smirked. "Well, maybe a couple years less." He cleared his throat. "I'm giving you this tape along with your Hawaiian present, Erzsé, and if I don't' hear back from you, I'll still keep the ring. It's a symbol of me knowing I love you and WANTING to take that chance; I'll have it until the day I die, but will never give it to anyone else if you don't want it." He put the box back in his pocket. "I just wanted you to know I love you." Greg turned off the camera then, and finished getting his stuff ready to go; hopefully she would say yes.


	2. Running Away

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, nor will I come into the possession of CSI during the writing of this fanfiction to my knowledge; I would like to further state that I do not have ANY affiliation with anything or anyone concerning CSI (Jerry Bruckheimer, William Peterson, CBS, etc.). I would also like the state that the idea of having Greg's name being Gregers instead of Gregory was first seen by myself in another fanfiction on this site, and I wanted to state that to cover all of my bases. The only character that I fully own, mind, body, and soul, is Erzsébet; she is created from my own mind.

The words went down onto the paper as Erzsébet sat in her car outside her fiancé's apartment building; he would be inside now, sleeping like a rock that wouldn't wake until his alarm went off. A chunk of her hair, some dark brown and some color "Pretty Flamingo" dropped over her face and the paper as she finished the note, and she just pushed it out of the way.

Taking a deep breath, Erzsébet tucked the note into her pocket and pulled a hood over her head; the rain had been coming down in torrents in Atlanta, but she just hoped that it would let up enough for her plane to take off in four hours. Her best friend Jessamyn was going to drive her, so Erzsébet's time to drop off the note was limited; she was supposed to get married in a month, and here she was taking off to what?

Whatever her reason, it was strong enough to cause her to go. As she took the note out of her pocket the moment she reached her fiancé's door, she felt the need to scan it once:

_Sarò indietro, Matt, prometto. Devo occorrere appena un certo tempo me, mi distendo; lo sforzo di questo evento sta ottenendo essere troppo ed essere qui non sta andando aiutare. Per il momento in cui traduciate questo, probabilmente sarò indietro livellare. Non si preoccupi prego._

Erzsébet took a deep breath, she signed her name, and kissed it before sliding it under his door. As she turned to go, she thought she heard some sounds coming from inside, but shook it off. It was too early in the morning for her to be analytical. By the time the sun had only been raised for a few hours, she would be in Las Vegas, Nevada, and hopefully within the comfort of her sister's apartment; hopefully, too, her sister would recognize her, as they hadn't seen each other in many years, since their mother had gone wonky.

Now if only she could find her friend from San Gabriel...


	3. A Familiar Face

"I'm coming…"

Sara Sidle's groggy voice probably wasn't reaching the door, but she didn't care; she'd been woken an hour after she'd returned from a very LONG shift. They had needed extra help on swing shift, so Catherine had put in the paperwork and called her and Greg before it had been approved. Grissom was a lead, so he was stuck until night shift had started.

The entire office had been in chaos and likely it still was, but Sara had been allowed to go, as had the rest who had been there for over twelve hours. It seemed as though it hadn't really happened now, but Sara thought she halfway remembered Grissom having a smirk on his face when they all left to get some rest; Ecklie was not their favorite person, and any downfall on his part brought them all a small amount of joy.

As the knocking began again, Sara grabbed for the knob and said, "I said I was COM-" But all bets were off when she opened the door and saw someone standing there, someone she knew. "Erzsé?" She hadn't seen her sister since she herself was almost ten years old, and her sister was four years younger than Sara; they had been separated when Sara's mother had killed their father in '84. TO see her standing on her doorstep now…

"Could I come in?" Erzsébet's voice said, immediately reminding Sara of the way she felt when they'd been separated, "I didn't know if it was you, but I thought it was worth a try." She and her older brother had been sent to live with relatives in Tamales Bay, over four hours from San Gabriel, where Sara had heard that Erzsébet had been sent to live with their grandparents.

With almost no second thought, because Sara always had some type of reservation, she ushered Erzsébet in, and closed the door. Suddenly, Sara was wide awake. "How did you find me?" was the first, and most obvious question on her mind, "I mean, it's been…"

"I work as a lab technician in Atlanta, for the VCTF." Erzsébet's face spread into a smile as she pushed back her hair and revealed olive green eyes that mimicked their father's. "I'm also engaged, but needed to get away from it all." She rolled her eyes. "You know how some people can get when someone's getting married…"

Sara bit her lip. "What are you doing in Vegas, then?" She was half worried that she'd be having some strange guy come to the door any minute now and say that he was looking for Erzsébet. "I mean, you're not… eloping?"

Erzsébet shook her head, and sat at a stool that was at Sara's kitchen counter-bar. "I'm running away, at least for now." She smirked. "Matt's going to find a note written totally in Italian when he leaves for work, if he hasn't found it already…"

"I guess you could stay with me until you've finished relaxing…" Erzsébet hugged Sara then, and for the first time in over ten years now, she was able to wrap her arms around her sister; Sara felt different, and hugged Erzsébet with all she could, lest she went away again. She needed to call their brother, and they could have a family dinner… or breakfast, rather. It would be awkward at first, but the Sidle family was all about being awkward. Suddenly, Sara remembered something… "Did you say lab technician?"

"Uh-huh…"

"Look, we've got this big case, and there are some techs out sick…"

"Clear it with your boss, I'll clear it with mine."


	4. Ass Tattoos

Erzsébet sat in the break room with Sara, both of them reading scientific journals, as the swing shift started. Catherine had cleared them to work on the big case all week, and although reserved, Ecklie had finally given in. Apparently, Bailey gave her a glowing recommendation after he verified she was alive and well – also promising not to tell Erzsébet's fiancé Matt where she was.

"Hey Sara," Catherine said as she walked into the room, doing a double take when she saw a girl with brown hair and a bright fuchsia streak sitting next to Sara; there were so many similarities that she could have mistaken the girl for Sara. She smirked; knowing she'd have come to her senses fairly quickly when she realized Sara would never do that to her hair. "Our fill in tech, I assume?"

"Huh?" Sara looked up at Catherine, tearing her eyes away from the journal, and then looking over at Erzsébet. "Oh, Erzsébet this is Catherine Willows. Catherine, Erzsébet."

Erzsébet looked up, and waved. "Sorry, we get engrossed in these things and it's hard to stop." There was a small smile. "Pleased to meet you."

There was no more explanation or talk until Nick and Warrick came in. "Woah, woah, woah," Warrick said, examining the two sitting on the couch, "that's too weird."

"Actually no, that's Erzsébet." Catherine then leaned over to Nick and Warrick, speaking in more of a hushed tone. "She's our fill-in tech, and came with Sara."

Nick nearly choked on his coffee then. "Never knew she swung-" His words were cut off but a sharp look from both Sara AND Erzsébet. "What? I was just SAYING…"

"She's my sister," Sara said softly, Erzsébet giving a nod of confirmation, "she's in town for a while, and…"

"Sorry I'm late, is Grissom here yet?" Greg rushed in and didn't seem to notice the commotion around him. He tasted the coffee and made a face. "Ugh, this stuff is nasty, I see no one's found my new hiding spot yet…"

"Greg?"

Erzsébet's voice broke through the room that had been talking and seemed to still everything like a giant pause button on life. Sara looked at Erzsébet; Catherine looked at Greg and then Erzsébet; Nick and Warrick were just standing there in shock. Then Erzsébet got up, leaving the scientific journal on the couch, and walked over to Greg. Greg, on the other hand, had put down his cup and walked to meet her. It would all have been very romantic if the next exchange hadn't happened:

"I haven't seen you since…"

"I know."

"I found this tattoo, your name..."

"Mine's on my ass, how well do you think THAT goes over with guys?"

The exchange was only stopped when Gil Grissom walked into the room; it seemed like the man had the power to stop just about any conversation. He looked at Sara, then Erzsébet, then Sara again. "I take it this is the person who cut through red tape because they work for a VCTF."

"Erzsébet Kaia Sidle," came the reply, Erzsébet turning away from Greg and looking straight at Grissom. "I assure you, I'm the best."

"Oooh," Nick said, "hear that Greg? She's challenging your skills as a lab tech."

"I've always been better, he just refuses to accept it."

Grissom motioned to Catherine, and they whispered for a bit. Then, Catherine looked at Greg. "You, show... Erzsébet around, and then get someone to get a hold of Nick or Warrick – you'll be working with them tonight in the house, while Grissom, Sara, and I work on the basement and guest house." She then smiled at Erzsébet. "Welcome to Las Vegas, sweetie."


	5. Just Give Me the Keys

It had been a long night, but Erzsébet had learned the processing procedure quickly from one of the other lab techs, and was unusually meticulous about doing it. It was probably was what separated her from the other techs at VCTF, Grissom had decided and told the rest as they were coming back from the scene for the last time, There had been very little groaning from Erzsébet in fact, when they had brought back more fingerprints.

Now they were all at breakfast, and everyone looked exhausted. Catherine and Grissom had gotten a period of leave for forty-eight hours so they could regroup, while Sara was let off coming in the next swing shift, as were the rest. Erzsébet had volunteered to come in and finish the results, but Ecklie still hadn't been taking it well that a night shift's sibling was prospering, and wanted to limit Erzsébet's time in the lab.

"So," Greg asked Erzsébet as she sipped on a cup of tea, "what brings you to the grand ol' city of Las Vegas?"

Erzsébet shrugged. "I don't' know exactly," she responded, "all I know is that Matt's mom was making me INSANE – and SHE isn't the one getting married…"

"Wow, you married…"

Sara looked over at Catherine; she didn't confide in many people, and it wasn't that she was going to start now, but Grissom knew what had happened in her past. He just wouldn't understand, though, about Erzsébet. "She was sent to live with our grandparents in San Gabriel when she was almost five," Sara explained, "it was too much for everyone to handle."

"She seems to have prospered," Catherine responded, "even if she did know Greg in high school…"

"Hey!"

Nick laughed. "I'm sure it wasn't meant THAT way, Greggo," he said, "but… you gotta admit, it's kind of strange."

"I'll have you know, she's the reason I have such great coffee."

"Your first tryst was in Hawaii then." He looked at Sara, smirking. "Interesting how you're so different…" When Erzsébet gave him a confused stare, Nick cleared his throat. "Greg's asked Sara out a few times…"

It was a surprise to everyone, even Sara, when Erzsébet started to choke on her tea after Nick's comment. "You asked Sara OUT?" Her tone was incredulous, and she grabbed all her things. "You're only a few blocks away, right Sara?"

Sara nodded, and held out her house keys to Erzsébet; she wasn't fully getting why her sister was so upset over Greg asking her out, not until Erzsébet was already out the door. "Oh my GOD," she said, and Sara didn't exclaim things very often.

"It looks like you missed something in all those years you've known her, Greg," Grissom said, giving his own little smirk over his coffee as the food came. "The girl with the pink streak will have her food to go. She just found out that her juvenile love interest asked her sister out."

"She was NOT interested in me," Greg protested, scowling a bit as everyone ignored his comment and dug into his food, "we were just close, that's ALL."

Warrick was the only one to say something. "If you were just close, tell me why she got so upset right now," he said, before going back to his breakfast.


	6. Gregers

Erzsébet was sitting at the counter when Sara returned bearing the gift of food, and said nothing when Sara stuck the food next to her on the counter. That's the way it had been for Sara growing up, and she supposed her sister was somewhat that way as well. Christopher was a little more open than they were; Sara tried to hide a smile knowing that inadvertently, her sister had some of her traits.

Sara didn't push the issue, and went straight to her room to sleep. Erzsébet knew her past few days had been hard, as Sara filled her in on the way to the building, so it was both Sidle women who just wanted to do what they had to do and not bother anyone else. When Sara came out, halfway through her nap, Erzsébet was sleeping soundly on the couch, and Sara couldn't help but smooth her sister's hair back and make sure she was comfortable.

That was when she had first noticed the bracelet her sister wore. Sara supposed she hadn't noticed it before, probably because of the quickness of her returning and getting into everything, but now she saw there was a small charm hanging off of a bracelet on her sister's wrist. Being as careful as the could, she removed the bracelet from Erzsébet's wrist, and sat on a nearby chair to examine it. It looked fairly normal, and silver – Erzsébet had told her earlier of her penchant for silver – and had what seemed like a locket hanging from it. Turning it over, Sara was surprised to find and inscription:

_Erzsébet,_

_I will always be there_

_Gregers_

Greg gave her sister a locket? And inscribed something on it? Sara raised her eyebrows, and opened the locket; she would have to ask Greg about it while they were on shift. Inside, there were two pictures. One seemed to be of Erzsébet in Hawaii; the other was of Greg, also looking Hawaiian. No wonder her sister was so upset finding out Greg had tried, and failed, to pursue her… they'd been best friends for some time, and then it looked like they'd lost contact.

She put the locket-bracelet on her coffee table, and headed back to bed to finish her nap…. She'd definitely have to ask Greg about this later. Right now, she wanted to sleep.


	7. The Best

"Tonight we've got a grab bag of a case," Grissom said, handing a folder each to Greg and Sara, "literally." Then he cleared his throat. "Catherine left a message for me this afternoon, Sara."

Sara looked up from her folder; she hadn't gotten to work as early as she had wanted to, nor has she been able to get Greg pinned into a corner and question him about her sister's piece of jewelry. "And?" Sara almost knew what he was going to say already, but she seemed to need to hear it from Grissom himself.

Grissom cleared his throat again; the words seemed to be getting stuck in his throat. "It was about your sister." There was some awkward silence, and both stole glances over at Greg before looking back and having eye contact with each other. "She says Ecklie begrudgingly said his lab techs had nothing to do because she hadn't let anything get in the way of her work." Grissom tried to keep a smile from his face, and it mostly worked. "He wants to keep her in Vegas."

"I guess she was right then."

Greg's words shot through the stare of Sara and Grissom just like a knife could cut through butter. There wasn't coldness, it was normal Greg, but Grissom saw how his words affected Sara. "What do you mean, Greg?"

"Well, she said she was the best." Greg closed his folder, sighing. "How could I NOT have seen it?"

"We don't' have time to get into something personal like that right now, Greg." Grissom looked at them both. "I'll meet you two out at the Tahoe in exactly ten minutes." Then, before Greg or Sara could say anything, he turned and walked out of the break room.

Sara turned her seat towards Greg, and saw him leaning back a little, looking up at the ceiling. "Greg…" She didn't' know hoe to say it, she really didn't. How do you ask someone what happened between them and your sister? Especially when that person has hit on you? "…I saw the bracelet?"

"I got that for her when she graduated college," Greg responded, looking towards Sara, "when we went to Hawaii…" He smiled a little, more Greg-like now than he had been in the past week since Erzsébet had arrived. "I gave it to her when we got off the plane, and we went our separate ways."

"I have to ask…"

"Not ever." Greg sat up a little more straight then, and tapped his fingers on the table. "We had agreed when she graduated high school that we'd make better friends." He sighed. "If I'd only KNOWN…"

Sara looked at the clock; they had sat in silence for a couple minutes, and now they had just under five to get up and get down to the car before Grissom left without them. "You two should talk, and soon." Sara smirked, something unusual but totally appropriate. "If you don't, she's going to get married to apparently, the biggest prick in the world." Sara got up from her chair, grabbed her folder, and headed over to the door. Before she headed down the hall, she turned to Greg. "You know, you may not be my type, but you are someone's."


	8. A Setup

Greg had told her that Sara he wanted to talk to Erzsébet after work, so she'd called before the end of the shift and asked her to come to the diner down the street from the apartment. The rest of the old night shift was going to show up and keep an eye on the whole situation, save Grissom and Catherine. Catherine had some parent-teacher thing at school, and Grissom… he just gave them both a look before he left.

"Greg," Erzsébet said, sitting down across from him, "I tried to sit with Sara and she said to come over to your table." Her hand rested on the table and Greg could see the bracelet there. "Care to tell me why?"

Greg looked at the girl, well now Erzsébet was a woman, across from him and went speechless; he couldn't remember why he'd given up, why he'd stopped talking to her. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew, but he didn't' want to think about it. Erzsé was here NOW, and he was going to take every moment he could with her.

"We have to talk," he said, "about… us."

There was a raised eyebrow from Erzsébet before she answered Greg. "Didn't we agree there wasn't a chance of an us?" Then she held up her left hand, displaying her engagement ring. "Also, have we forgotten I'm engaged?"

The waitress came over before Greg could answer, and his words were bursting to come out; unfortunately, he had to wait until both of them had ordered before he could release them. "Why didn't you SAY something, Erz? I mean, we could have discussed it if I'd..."

"What? If you'd known?" Erzsébet shook her head. "No, you're my Grissom. I'm like Sara, and you're the unattainable." She looked down after her tea came. "No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tell you…. Then you just stopped talking to me."

Greg reached out and grabbed Erzsébet's hands in his own, causing her to look up; her green eyes looked into his own and he could see now. He could see how she'd felt. "That isn't why you-"

"Oh, no." She pulled her hands away from his, and settled back into her seat. "He's been cheating on me for at least the past six months, and… I'm hoping he'd change once we married, but…"

"Talk about parallel…" At Erzsébet's confused look, Greg felt the need to explain. "You see, Sara was seeing this guy, and found out… well, under awful circumstances in fact, that he was cheating on his girlfriend with her."

"So it runs in the family then, making poor choices…" Erzsébet sighed, and took a drink of her tea. "Well, at least we didn't' get the killer gene."


	9. A Conflict of Interest

From what Erzsébet had told her, she and Greg had had a very productive talk. There was, however, a problem; Erzsébet still had a fiancé, whom she didn't have definitive proof of was cheating. Once that was established, she could break off the engagement. Sara had learned, from both Greg and Erzsébet, that the man she was engaged to had been decent in high school. However, he had never liked Greg, so if he found out where Erzsébet was, and that Greg was there too, there could be trouble. So it had been arranged that Erzsébet would work swing shift with Catherine, Warrick, and Nick to limit her time with Greg. Now Erzsébet, who had now been in Las Vegas for about two weeks now, had gotten some important evidence in that she wanted to finish, so was working a small bit of overtime and was still there when Greg came in with evidence.

"Weren't you supposed to be gone like three hours ago?"

Erzsébet pointed to a spot on a counter. "Bags there," she said, "Chandra should be back any minute to start processing your stuff." She looked up at Greg, and narrowed her eyes a bit when he snickered. "What's so funny? You've seen me in a lab coat before…"

"Not one that was that big on you," he said, stepping behind her to see what she was doing, "you know, we have an automatic process for that." Greg smirked a little as she waved him off, and then went over and took a sip of a cup with Erzsébet's name on it. "Hey, found my coffee did you?"

Erzsébet smirked. "First place I looked. Everyone's very thankful, especially Nick and Warrick." She went over to a printer near the front of the lab and grabbed a paper before turning her attention back to him. "Gregers, I'll buy you more. I promise."

Greg smiled and stood outside the lab, waiting for Erzsébet to come back from dropping off the results in Catherine's office. Before she did, an unfamiliar guy, with a visitor's pass on, came up to him and asked, "Is Erzsébet Sidle here tonight?"

"She's supposed to be off," Greg responded, "but she's little miss detail and-" he paused, suddenly wanting to know exactly who was asking these questions. No matter what their relationship was with each other, he wouldn't let someone near her she didn't want there. "Who would you be?"

The guy glared a Greg for a moment, but seemed to recognize him all of a sudden; it was the same for Greg, he knew who the guy was when he saw the name on the tag: Matthew Simpson. "I'm the man she's engaged to, and you're who she ran away to see, aren't you?"

"Actually, she ran away because you're a-"

But Greg never got to finish his sentence, because just then, Erzsébet walked up. "Matt?" she questioned, sounding more than a little bit nervous, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you, Erz," Matt responded, glaring at Greg for a moment before putting and arm around Erzsébet, "how long have you been doing it?"

"Huh?"

"Cheating on me." There seemed to be a change in Erzsébet's manner as Matt's arm tightened around her waist, but Greg couldn't risk his new promotion for this. "I mean, you run off and I find you here with HIM?"

That was when Greg saw the dangerous change in Erzsébet's face; she'd never looked that mad, and he'd known her over ten years. He watched as she wrenched herself away from Matt, and then Chandra came back so he guided the lab tech into the lab so Matt and Erzsébet could have as much privacy as possible in the hall of the Las Vegas crime lab.

"ME cheating?"

Chandra looked at Greg as Erzsébet's words were said, well, screamed; she knew that there was something going on, but then again, so did everyone else within probably a four-block radius. Sara was on her way back from the scene, and Greg hoped there wouldn't be a smackdown featuring two Sidle women. "That's her fiancé," he said, earning a nod of acceptance from the lab tech that was new to the team, "they've got issues."

"I'll try to get this evidence done before anything else," Chandra replied, trying to ignore the argument going on outside the lab, "but I can't guarantee anything if they stay out there the entire shift."

"Yes you, you little tramp!" Greg looked towards the argument then, letting Chandra start her work. "You heard me, Erzsébet, I called you a tramp! I know you've been in love with him since high school."

"Yeah?"

"YEAH."

"Then, Mister Smart-Ass, did you ALSO happen to know that I was fucking raised by my grandparents?" Before Matt could talk, Erzsébet was on him with something else. "Or, that I know that the lipstick I found on your dirty shirts last month wasn't mine because I would NEVER wear such a god-awful shade of red?"

"Erzsébet, he's HERE. YOU are HERE."

"So is my fucking sister."


	10. The Details of Abuse

Since Erzsébet wasn't one of THEIR lab techs, Ecklie couldn't put up a fight when she refused to come in for the day shift. There had been a lot of arguing since Matt had shown up at the crime lab three nights ago, a lot of it between supervisors, and a lot of it between Sidles. Grissom lectured Sara about conduct because Erzsébet just told him to fuck off; Catherine lectured Erzsébet when she left the results in her office, and wouldn't communicate with anyone; and GREG was off because Nick and Warrick thought it was HIS fault they'd lost Erzsébet.

What a surprise to everyone when Erzsébet showed up just as shifts were changing, sporting a very fashionable black eye. "Hey everyone," she said, "I think I'm going back to Atlanta."

"Shit, what happened?"

That was from Nick, but it caused Sara and Greg to both get up and walk over towards Erzsébet; Sara however, backed off when Greg took Erzsébet's face in his hands and started looking at it. "Gentle, gentle," was Erzsébet's only words, and they were quiet, unlike most of the stuff everyone had heard come out of her mouth.

Everyone watched as Greg took Erzsébet over to the couch and sat her down; Grissom decided that Sohpia would work on Erzsébet's case after Greg got all the information from her. It was a big disadvantage to have both members of his night shift to know the victim personally. Sophia would do an excellent job, and Grissom would make sure that Erzsébet met and felt comfortable with it. She was on a task force, she would understand why Greg or Sara couldn't do it; he had learned that much about her.

Ten minutes after everyone had scattered and headed off to either home or their assignments, Grissom called Sophia and had her go into the break-room. "I'm Sophia Curtis," she told Erzsébet, sitting next to her in the break room, "Mister Grissom says he talked to you about why Greg Sanders and Sara Sidle can't take you case?"

Erzsébet only nodded, but didn't turn towards Sophia; she could tell that her attitude was completely different from what she would normally be like, everything from the way she was dressed to her hair showed it. "I understand," she said after a few moments, "I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Well, I've got the basics of the story, and Sanders says he'll give the details to me when he types it up." Sophia cleared her throat. "Can you tell me anything else?"

"It was either kill him or let him beat me up."

Although it didn't' sound quite reasonable or correct, Sophia let Erzsébet keep that reasoning; she would take notes, and would try to get Erzsébet to talk as much as she could. Anything would be useful. "I understand that your fiancé did this to you?" There was a nod from Erzsébet. "Has he ever done this before?"

Erzsébet shook her head. "I never thought he'd do this if I told him I knew he'd been cheating on me." She sniffled. "Things have to turn out alright for me; they did for Chris, and although it doesn't seem like it, it's turned out for Sara."

"So you're Sara Sidle's sister."

"Yes." Another pause, and then Erzsébet continued. "We were separated over twenty years now, and I came to Las Vegas to see if it was her." When Sophia didn't respond, Erzsébet turned towards her a bit. "My fiancé thought it was because of Greger- CSI Sanders."

Greger- why didn't Erzsébet finish the word, Sophia wondered. Could it have been a pet name she'd had for Greg years ago? She wrote the question down, perhaps to find out from Erzsébet's fiancé later. "Do you need a ride anywhere?" Sophia thought she should at least offer.

"No, I'm just going to wait for Sara." Erzsébet made a small smile then. "She carries a gun, and Matt won't dare come back if she does."


	11. Smart Men, Smart Men

"Erzsébet open up," Greg said, pounding on Sara's door. He was tired, more tired now than he had been since he was in college during his finals. "Come on, I KNOW you're there…"

"No she's not Greg," came the voice as a very tired looking Sara opened the door; apparently he had woken her. "And could you stop pounding on my door?"

"Where is she?"

"At Matt's hotel," she said, "taking back the ring."

Greg pushed his way into Sara's apartment, ignoring her protests. "Woah…" His worrying about Erzsébet was cut short as he saw the inside of Sara's apartment. "Nice apartment, Sara."

"I got a good deal." Sara yawned, and then headed into her kitchen. "Erzsé stole some of your coffee, care for some?" Greg nodded in response, and Sara watched as he paced the floor of her apartment. "Ever pace around for me?"

"Huh?" Greg looked down and realized he was pacing; Erzsébet had gone to see Matt, without protection? He supposed he should stop worrying, but that didn't seem something he was capable of doing at the moment. Greg sat down on a stool at Sara's counter-bar, and sighed. "How could she go WITHOUT someone, Sara?"

"Probably because there was an entire team waiting here for her when we got back this morning after breakfast." Sara leaned on her side of the counter, and looked over at Greg between her yawns. "Her boss and the team she works with found the report and wanted to come beat his ass down." She smirked. "Or at least those were the words her boss used."

Behind him, the front door closed; he had heard Sara close it when she'd come in after him, so he knew it wasn't the wind. Someone had just come into the apartment. Greg turned, and saw Erzsébet walking in with three very imposing men, and a woman. "How'd it go?"

"Well," the older man went, "we didn't get far enough into the conversation to have her give him back the ring." He gestured towards the other two men. "These geniuses decided it would be fun to threaten his life."

"Good for you." Greg took the coffee Sara offered him, then stood up and went over to the man who had spoken. "Greg Sanders, CSI level one."

"Bailey Malone, head of the Atlanta VCTF."

Erzsébet went into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee herself, motioning for the woman who had come with them to head on in. "They'll be talking about different ways to punish Matt," she said, "and Sam, this is my sister, Sara Sidle. Sara, Sam Waters."

The two women shook hands, and then the three of them looked at the men standing just ten feet away in the living room. "Matt got all defensive," Erzsébet told Sara, taking a drink from the cup, "he said I just wanted to embarrass him."

"Greg showed up about ten minutes ago," she said, gesturing towards Greg for Sam, "he was worried." When Erzsébet rolled her eyes, Sam smacked her on the back of the head, which made Sara smirk into her coffee. "You have known him over ten years, you know…"

"We know," Sam said, "Erzsébet told us about when they went to Hawaii." Sam smirked at Erzsébet sliding down the cabinetry. "It was a fun time, she says."

"Thought you never slept with him."

"I DIDN'T…"


	12. Distracted Shopping

Bailey, Sam, and the rest of the team who worked with Erzsébet had left the previous day, and Ecklie had reluctantly put a protective detail on her; the conversation had been loud, and even from the break room, where Catherine and the rest of the swing shift were you could hear Greg "discussing" it. Everyone noticed the change in Sara, and all tried not tried to smirk as Erzsébet slid down into the couch cushions, obviously embarrassed at Greg's discussion with Ecklie.

So Erzsébet was now at Cesear's Palace with Catherine, doing some general shopping, because Sara had wanted to sleep, and Greg was exhausted. "You're just like her," Catherine said after they'd been in a few of the shops there, "you know that don't you?"

"Hmm?"

"I said, you're just like her." Catherine picked something up to look at it before she continued. "Sara, I mean."

"Oh…" Erzsébet nodded, and took something off one of the racks. "Right." When Catherine kept giving her an inquiring look, Erzsébet sighed, and leaned against something. "I guess I'm just dealing with the fact that my fiancé is in jail for assault, and that…"

"You love Greg."

"I know that, HE knows that." Erzsébet followed Catherine to the dressing rooms with some stuff, and went into her own dressing room. "I'm not going to do anything about it." There was a moment of silence, and then Erzsébet said something else over the fitting room wall. "He doesn't love me."

Catherine pinched her skin while pulling up a zipper on a shirt. "You're not serious." She climbed up on the fitting room bench, and saw Erzsébet turning around to look at herself in the mirror. "He is incredibly protective, and somewhat territorial…"

"He hit on Sara." Erzsébet looked up at Catherine. "No matter HOW he is towards me…" She held up a pair of pants against herself, and then looked back up at Catherine again. "But that doesn't mean he loves me. It means he acts like a big brother."

Catherine sighed and for the next few minutes, there was no talking; Erzsébet was thinking, and Catherine knew something big was going to happen before she left to go back to Atlanta. Soon they were both done, and when Catherine next saw Erzsébet, she was wearing long, black pants, and a lace up bodice type shirt. It went well with her personality and her hair, which now had an aqua streak strikingly similar in color to that of the shirt.

"Looks good, where is that being worn to?"

Erzsébet smirked. "I'm going to test your theory tonight," she said, walking towards the register with her purchase on, and her old stuff in her bag, "Greg's got a night off, and I convinced Sara to let him come over for dinner and movies." She sighed. "Just like high school and college…"


	13. Tonight WAS the Night

"Remember," Sara said as she was leaving her apartment for her shift and Greg was walking in, "turn off the tv before you go to sleep, and…"

Erzsébet rolled her eyes, and pushed Greg towards the kitchen, ignoring his protests to talk to Sara. "We'll be fine, and if Chris calls I'll tell him that I leave in three days." She pushed Sara out the door and towards her car, closing the door. "She still doesn't talk at work, does she?"

"A bit more now that you're here," Greg said, handing Erzsébet a cup of… something. "Not much more, though…" He looked at Erzsébet for a moment, quietly drinking his own cup of unidentified stuff, and then spoke again. "You know we can't leave the house with you in that."

Erzsébet took a deep breath, and bit her lip; she looked down at herself, and then at Greg. "What? I like it." It took a lot of strength, but Erzsébet tapped Greg's cheek and proceeded into the living room, sitting on the couch. "Come on, we've got a good bunch of movies here…"

"Fine, fine…" Greg took a seat next to Erzsébet on the couch, and poked her until she looked towards him. "…it's just me, and you're not engaged anymore." He noticed there was a bit of change in her eyes, and he sighed, looking back at the television to set up the first movie as Erzsébet got up off the couch and headed to the back of the apartment.

She returned a few minutes later, and appeared to be in her pajamas instead; Erzsébet took one of the bowls of popcorn and sat on Sara's loveseat. "Come on, we've got to plow through these things," she said, her voice just as quiet as Sara's could get, "you've got work tomorrow night, and I've got to get some dinner things done." Erzsébet picked up the remote from the coffee table, settled herself onto the loveseat.

_Damn,_ Greg thought, _I've caused her to go into a hole._


	14. She's Got the Stuff

"Come on," Sara said as she was driving Erzsébet to the airport, "let me park in short term, and I'll muscle my way past security and spend time with you at the gate." There had been a tremendous change in Sara Sidle in the past month, and the same could be said for Erzsébet; she was much more quiet than anyone had seen since she arrived, while Sara was a little more talkative.

Erzsébet shook her head as they pulled off Las Vegas Boulevard and headed into the loop around McCarran International; she wanted to go home, and put this entire trip behind her. Of course, with the exception of finding Sara and spending time with her and their brother Chris, things had been awful. Erzsébet had completely stopped conversing with Greg since he'd come over to Sara's that one night, and from what she had heard from Sara as she was on the phone with Catherine, he was miserable. _Good_, she thought, _let him be miserable_.

"Well, here's where this whole things stops."

"Hmm?"

"You gotta get your stuff and get inside that airport?" Sara sighed as Erzsébet got out of her car and went around to the back; she followed, and watched as her sister unloaded her luggage. "He's-"

"I know, he's miserable." Erzsébet turned to Sara, and it made Sara want to kill Greg when she saw the expression on her sister's face. "He should be. Catherine made me think he didn't just see me as something other than a friend, and I let myself get all hopeful." She pulled her last piece of luggage out and sighed. "I promise I'll be back in a few months, and I'll write you with my address."

Sara couldn't' do anything but hug her sister. "Don't drop off the face of the earth like grams and gramps made you, okay?" She pushed her sister away and looked her straight in the eyes. "I am your big sister, I will be there for you no matter what, got it?"

With that comment, Erzsébet couldn't help but crack a smile; her sister always had made her feel better, and had kept her safe during what had happened to their father. After many more hugs, Erzsébet made her way into the airport after getting her boarding passes, and headed for the security gate.

She went through the gate with no problem, showing them her badge, taking all the metal out of her pockets, and even submitting to an extra search. Erzsébet was almost to the gate when two security guards stepped in front of her. "Excuse me miss," one of them said, "but you'll have to come with us." Figuring that this was just a precaution taken by Bailey and the rest, Erzsébet followed the gentlemen to the boarding gate, whose area happened to be fairly deserted. "Please, sit down."

After talking amongst themselves, one of the men went off, and came back just a few moments later. With Captain Brass. "Miss Sidle," he said, "I believe you have something of the Las Vegas Police Department's."

"I'll check my bags," Erzsébet said, opening her purse and starting to look through it, " but I don't think- hey!" While she had started looking through her bag two men had come up behind her and restrained her arms. Taking a quick look back, she scowled, and then Erzsébet looked at Captain Brass. "This isn't funny, I'm a law abiding member of a violent crimes task force, and haven't ever done anything."

"Of course not, or you wouldn't be in law enforcement."

"EXACTLY."

Nick and Warrick had, by now, chained her hands behind her and to a chair, and took spots slightly behind Brass. "We've come to tell you that you HAVE to stay," Nick said, "it's important."

"No, I have a job at home." Erzsébet tried to struggle, but gave up after a few moments. "I have friends, and hopefully potential dates."

"You have a potential right here," Warrick responded, prompting a groan from Erzsébet. "Yes, this again. You love him."

"He loves you."

Erzsébet got her hands free just then, and stood up; she was furious they had handcuffed her for something so frivolous. "NO," she said, " not like everyone thinks." Nick and Warrick both tried to open their mouths to say something, but Erzsébet held up her hand. "Don't start with me and tell me he loves me more deeply than you've ever seen him act towards Sara. It's not the fact that he flirted with her and hit on her that proves my point." She sighed. "It's that I was dressed in something, that if he was interested like that, would have made him JUMP me." She looked between the two men. "Do you UNDERSTAND me?"

"They do," a voice said from behind her, "but you're wrong."

Erzsébet turned around to protest, but couldn't say a word; Greg was standing there, holding flowers. All she wanted to do was scream at him, but Erzsébet couldn't bring herself to do it. "Gregers." It was all she said, and she stepped out into the middle of the concourse to get away from the seats.

"I'm so sorry, so, SO sorry." Greg handed Erzsébet the flowers, and stood so close to her she could hear him breathing. "I didn't mean to stop writing you, or talking to you…"

Erzsébet let a tear slide down on her face as she pressed her head to his; it was a thing they'd been doing since high school, and now seemed an appropriate time to do it. "Then why did you?"

"You didn't reply to the video."

"Huh?" Erzsébet moved back from Greg, and looked at him, confused as ever. "What do you mean? I watched the last video you sent me. You told me you were going to stay in Vegas, that you liked the team you were with…"

"Cue the video."

Erzsébet looked back at Nick and Warrick, one of who had spoken into a walkie-talkie; they just smiled. Then, on the screens that were broadcasting the news, a video began…

_"Greg, stop."_

_"Come on, it's for us to remember forever."_

_"FINE… this vacation has been the best, I want to do it again next year…"_

Erzsébet recognized the scene; it was when they had been in Hawaii, as she was suffering an allergic reaction to pineapple. She looked back at Greg as the screen faded out and then went to white noise.

"Keep watching," he said, "you didn't see this next part…"

Erzsébet sat down as a view of their Hawaii balcony view came on the screens; Greg, after a few moments of fiddling with the angle, sat on the edge of the balcony and cleared his throat.

_"Yesterday I bought you a couple of things. One you'll get when the plane touched down at LAX. The other… it requires extra words to give. Why? Because we both decided, on the plane trip over to this beautiful place, never to be more than friends."_

Now this was interesting… Erzsébet looked over at Greg as he sat across from her, apparently trying to see her reaction.

_"I can't just be your friend, Erzsé. I've watched you for the past eight years, and have seen you change. You have grown from a girl with mosquito bites to a women who made Hawaiian men take notice."_

"_GREG! Are you done yet? The cab company called and they're on their way!"_

"_Almost!"_

There was a smile from online Greg, and Erzsébet couldn't help but smile. She remembered screaming at him as the cab was on the way to the hotel. She thought he was having trouble finding everything.

"_That's you, but… you probably know that already. Where was I? Oh yeah – you made them take notice, and even then I had begun to regret our deal. So, I got this for you…"_

It wasn't only Erzsébet who gasped when mid-twenties Greg pulled the box out of his pocket; nor was she the only one when he opened it and revealed a ring with a black pearl in it's setting, with tiny gemstone all around it. All the women in the airport were looking around for her; she could see it in their faces.

_"I want to marry you, Erzsébet Kaia Sidle, and I think I've known I love you for about the same amount of time I've known you. Well, maybe a couple years less. I'm giving you this tape along with your Hawaiian present, Erzsé, and if I don't' hear back from you, I'll still keep the ring. It's a symbol of me knowing I love you and WANTING to take that chance; I'll have it until the day I die, but will never give it to anyone else if you don't want it. I just wanted you to know I love you."_

The video went off then, and Erzsébet was left speechless; she couldn't believe it, Greg had wanted to marry her when they went to Hawaii. Had he just come right out and said it, they wouldn't have lived the past five years in silence, they would have had one child by now.

"Can you believe that?" someone said from behind Erzsébet – she was beginning to hate people behind her, "He wanted to marry her, and she never gave him an answer."

Erzsébet turned around to say something, answer the person behind her, and saw it was Sara; she wanted to kill her sister at the moment, and if not for the absolute unlawfulness of that activity, she would have. "You knew," she said, "didn't you?"

"I could have kept you from being cuffed."

"I hate you." Erzsébet looked at Greg. "I hate you too, you should have just asked. You know I turn the videos off when the white noise comes on." There was an announcement over the loud speaker then, announcement the boarding of Erzsébet's flight, at least the first class section anyway.

Greg moved over to Erzsébet then, crouching in front of her; she looked down at him, with a slight bit of contempt upon her normally serene face. He reached out and took her hands. "Please don't hate me for not asking outright," he said, "I just… didn't know."

"I know." They were simple words; they were spoken softly. However Erzsébet Sidle had just said she knew Gregers Sanders had had no idea she'd loved him, it would have thought to have been said that way. "I didn't know how to tell you, not after…"

Their heads were leaned together once again; their familiarity, comfort level, everything, there and undeniable; Greg and Erzsébet were huddled together, and yet somehow only noticeable by those close to them. Warrick, Nick, and Sara

watched as a huddled conversation took place, privy to a intimate action as Greg took a box out of his pocket.

"What'd I miss?" an out of breath Catherine asked, "Did he ask her yet?" She snickered a bit as Erzsébet suddenly launched out of her chair and tackled Greg to the ground. "I guess I got here just in time."


	15. The Turtle

"I hate you."

Greg Sanders laughed as his wife lay in the hammock, struggling to get out like a turtle on its back; she was five months along, but she was having twins. Even the doctor was surprised with how big she was. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Want some help?" she nodded, and Greg helped pull Erzsébet out. They'd been married for a year, and Erzsébet had decided to give up on being a lab technician once she got pregnant.

"I suggest you stop molesting my sister," Sara said as she walked into the backyard, "she has one powerful kick." Sara kissed her sister on the cheek, and put something down on the picnic table nearby them. Grissom was already here, and Catherine was just getting out of the car with Lindsey. Nick and Warrick were picking up dates.

"Hey, she didn't have to say yes," Greg reminded her, "but she did, and I couldn't be happier about it."

"Good, because you're stuck with me." Erzsébet kissed his cheek, and smiled when she saw Catherine coming through the gate. "I'm going to say hello." And as she went off, she said something that made both Sara and Greg roar with laughter. "And if I fall down and get stuck on my back, you better not laugh and compare me to a turtle!"

Watching Erzsébet with Catherine and Lindsey, Sara looked at Greg; he was happy, and she knew that no one in the world could have made him happier than her sister. "Happy?" she asked him. "Because it would be difficult to get out of it now."

"I waited five years for an answer, and I got it Sara." Greg looked at his partner. "I wouldn't try to get out of it even if I was paid all the money in the world."


End file.
